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I have a 5 ton 12 seer trane unit with a power bill around $280-$340 a month. With my last power bill being the highest yet at $370 of the 12 year of me living in my house. I was thinking about having someone one install a 5 ton trane XL19i with a varible speed air handle. I was wanting to know how much money do you think my power bill should go down and if it really worth intalling such a high seer unit.

Thank you for anwering my question it will help me alot in me chosing a unit. Jason

Originally posted by master air I have a 5 ton 12 seer trane unit with a power bill around $280-$340 a month. With my last power bill being the highest yet at $370 of the 12 year of me living in my house.

I was thinking about having someone one install a 5 ton trane XL19i with a varible speed air handler.

I was wanting to know how much money do you think my power bill should go down and if it really worth intalling such a high seer unit.

Thank you for anwering my question it will help me alot in me chosing a unit. Jason

If the 5-ton A/C unit runs for
10 hours each day for 150 days (30 days x 5 months),
your annual cooling cost savings would be ~$220.

It seems like A/C might be 45% to 62% of total electric bill. At 14 hours per day run time, cooling cost would be $210 per month, and
savings would be $61 per month for about 5 months (MAXimum, unless you are in Phoenix) per year.

Total annual cooling hours in the VERY Simplified Example
above is 1,500 hours
which may vary significantly due to
weather in your specific area
and A/C unit performance.

System price ~$10,000 simply to have
more efficient unit ... Pay-back 45 years.

More realistic comparison,
system price greater than the
cost of a 12 SEER replacement:
Say $3,000 is approximate cost
for upgrade from 12 to 17 SEER.
Pay-Back = 13.6 years.

Obviously, other A/C performance and building envelope enhancements should be evaluated
prior to equipment SEER upgrade by itself
as others will comment here.

Designer Dan
It's Not Rocket Science, But It is SCIENCE with "Some Art". ___ ___ K EEP I T S IMPLE & S INCERE
Define the Building Envelope and Perform a Detailed Load Calc: It's ALL About Windows and Make-up Air Requirements. Know Your Equipment Capabilities

Originally posted by cem-bsee have you checked all the items which can cause energy waste?
poor insulation, esp ceiling
poor insulation of ducts
duct joints apart
box | duct joints, seams, holes not sealed
oversized unit
no shading
no insulation around slab perimeter

The above is excellent advice.
Have an energy audit done and make cost-effective investments in reducing the heatgain and heatloss of your home.

Then have an accurate manual J done and make certain that the size equipment you have installed is putting out its rated Btu/hr during your normal temperature and humidity operating conditions.

A lot of the larger units don't have the adequate airflow and enough heatload on the evaporator coil. A fair percentage of residential 5-ton systems are only removing 3.5 to 4-ton of heat from the home's conditioned space.

Do the right things in the proper sequence and you might save yourself a ton on needless utility expenditures. Every county in America should have an energy audit police force checking out ecvery jome and commercial building, and especially government buildings! Can you say, Amen to that?